Reborn as a Noble's Son

“Minister Huang is considering retirement, which is understandable considering his health condition. However, I believe there’s absolutely no need for him to fully retire. After stepping down from his current role, he could serve as the deputy in the Municipal People’s Congress or the Political Consultative Conference to rest and recuperate. Given his background as a seasoned cadre, Minister Huang has abundant experience in organizational and personnel matters. When necessary, he can still make significant contributions to our city.” Nie Zhenbang said with a smile. This proposal was discussed the night before.

Obviously, for Huang Junshan’s resignation, a medical certificate would not be a problem. Moreover, everyone involved is a provincial cadre. With Fan Changsheng’s ability, getting Huang Junshan to retire was also not a problem. Therefore, the decision from Nie Zhenbang and others was appropriate for Huang Junshan to retire. As long as the city raised the matter, the officials in the province would most likely respect the city’s opinion, which, by then, would not affect Lei Dingguo’s investigation either.

Having heard Nie Zhenbang’s words, the other standing committee members seemed to not know what to say. The atmosphere at the meeting was bizarre today. One’s own people were insisting on retirement, whereas the opposition wanted him to continue working, ideally in his current position.

Seeing this situation, Fan Changsheng timely stood up—he controlled the progress and rhythm of the standing committee meeting. He calmly said: “In that case, I propose we settle this with a vote. All in favor of Comrade Huang Junshan’s retirement, please raise your hand.”

With that said, Fan Changsheng was the first to raise his hand, followed by Li Guohua, Li Xiaoqin, Huang Junshan, Hu Youquan, and Wen Yuhe—a total of six votes.

With the votes count out, Fan Changsheng’s face darkened. Huang Jiang did not cast a vote, which surprised Fan Changsheng.

Then, when it came to raise hands, Nie Zhenbang’s side won by one vote—opposing with seven votes—barely overcoming Fan Changsheng and others. However, during the subsequent vote of Huacheng District Party Secretary Lu Wu, Fan Changsheng smoothly passed the decision of assigning Lu Wu to the Municipal Party Committee to serve as the deputy department-level official with eight votes. The position of the new District Party Secretary was temporarily vacant and was temporarily held by Standing Committee member and Executive Deputy Mayor Li Guohua.

This move caught Nie Zhenbang off guard. Nie Zhenbang had anticipated Lu Wu’s situation before the meeting as it was a promotion after all. With the old town renovation about to start in Huacheng District, not a few eyes were envious. Transferring Lu Wu out would open up opportunities, irrespective of whether these opportunities fell into one’s hands, it meant a chance existed. Therefore, there were eight votes in support. However, no one expected Li Guohua would assume the role.

Nie Zhenbang’s face darkened. This move by Fan Changsheng was quite ruthless. If it were a simple case of a District Party Secretary, the achievements and merits would naturally fall mostly in his own pocket. But now? Wanting to grab achievements from Li GuoHua… that was a pipe dream.

Although his goal was not entirely for the achievements, for him to painstakingly conduct investigations, plan strategies, introduce funds, and transform the old city, only for the final credits to be taken by his political enemy would be incomprehensible to anyone.

However, as things stood, Nie Zhenbang had no other choice but to find another way.

At this moment, seeing that he had gained some ground, Fan Changsheng’s face looked much better. He then stood up and announced decisively: “In that case, let’s conclude today’s meeting here. Meeting adjourned.”

…

“Leader, boss, you can’t not care about me this time. Our Public Security Bureau has many old 212 jeep police cars that need to be replaced. This time, you have to give me some funds, I don’t need much, four million will do.” In Nie Zhenbang’s office, Chen Le began to act like a spoiled child, making a pitiful face.

“Four million?” Nie Zhenbang was bemused by Chen Le’s lazy posture and teased: “Chen Le, your guts are getting bigger and bigger. That’s a big amount you are demanding. ‘Four million will do,’ you say, do you think that the city’s finance only needs to support your Public Security Bureau? Last year, your Municipal Bureau confiscated more than ten million in fines. Why didn’t you use that? You have managed the welfare quite well. But the government has no money now. At most two million, take it or leave it. If it’s not enough, find a solution yourself. The violent enforcement agency is short of money. Who’s going to believe that if you say it out loud?”

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang was also befuddled by Chen Le. However, the primary reason was because Chen Le was a family member. If it were someone else, Nie Zhenbang would have cared about his image.

Saying this, Nie Zhenbang took Chen Le’s funding request report and wrote a remark on it: ‘Please arrange for the disbursal of funds, Head of the Finance Department.’

Taking the note, Chen Le cheerfully left. However, within two days, Chen Le returned to Nie Zhenbang’s office.

Looking at Nie Zhenbang, Chen Le complained with a bitter face: “Mayor, it seems that this Ren Yong is deliberately going against me. It’s been two days. After giving like pulling teeth to the tune of three hundred thousand, he has disappeared. It seems like he is not planning on disbursing the funds.”

Hearing Chen Le’s words, Nie Zhenbang frowned and said sternly: “Old Chen, what exactly is happening? Sit down and tell me everything.”

As it turned out, Chen Le, holding Nie Zhenbang’s note, had rushed to the Municipal Finance Bureau. As the Director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Chen Le had gone directly to Ren Yong and handed over Nie Zhenbang’s note. Originally, Chen Le thought this was a sure thing. However, to his surprise, Ren Yong gave him a troubled look and told him there was no money in the city’s finance account.

Later, Chen Le specially assigned a few staff to pressure Ren Yong, and they finally managed to squeeze out three hundred thousand from him.

It’s not unheard of for the Mayor’s notes to not get funds. However, that situation was usually due to some unspoken agreement between the Mayor and the Finance Department. Although there was a note signed by the Mayor, the Mayor did not intend to give the funds. That is a completely different concept from the present situation.

After pondering for a moment, Nie Zhenbang looked up at Chen Le and said: “Old Chen, for this matter, don’t make a big deal of it. Rushing to get the money isn’t necessary. Take your time. For today, you should go back first.”

After sending off Chen Le, Nie Zhenbang’s expression turned solemn. Fan Changsheng’s counterattacks were incredibly cunning and ruthless. First, he allowed Li Guohua to take over the role in Huacheng District, disrupting Nie Zhenbang’s arrangement. And now, he’s pinning Nie Zhenbang down financially. It must be remembered that Nie Zhenbang was not the Municipal Party Secretary—he was the Mayor. If he were the Municipal Party Secretary, it wouldn’t matter whether he had financial control—as the Party’s affairs were his responsibility. But being the Mayor and without financial control, he wouldn’t be able to make a single move.

Thinking about this, Nie Zhenbang picked up the phone and dialed Liu Weijun’s number, saying: “Secretary General Liu, could you inform the Finance Department that I will be conducting a research visit there tomorrow morning.”